Specialized Bus Monitor Training for Special Education Department

OMS nurse Agena Boles led the medical training, showing how to secure a wheelchair and teacher assistant Rochelle Watson sits in the chair.
Photo provided by OSD.

During a recent professional development day, Oxford School District’s Special Education Department provided bus monitoring training to all teacher assistants.

OSD’s special education buses provide specialized bus monitors to ensure the safety of students.

As a collaborative effort between the Special Education Department and the OSD Transportation Department, the teaching assistants were trained in bus protocols, parent interactions, behaviors, car seats, seatbelt safety and medical issues.

OSD Nurse Agena Boles conducted the majority of the training including instructions on managing medical needs such as asthma, allergies, seizures and autism. Demonstrations on wheelchair securement, correct buckling of seat belts and how to properly secure a child in a car seat were also reviewed.

Scott Cofer from the OSD’s Transportation department provided a bus for the training in order for participants to practice with the wheelchair lift.

Kathy Howington, assistant director of SPED, also offered “do’s and don’ts” when working with parents and how to deal with problematic behaviors on the bus.

Courtesy of the Oxford School District